50 million American are food insecure. This means that even with the US being one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, a staggering number of people simply don’t have enough to eat… And one of the hardest hit populations are single parents and their children.

None of us can change the world and none of us can end hunger alone, but we can change the world of a few people in our community and create a positive ripple from there. That’s why we’ve started Gardens for Single Moms.

We’re on a mission to help people grow their own healthy, organic food.

If you’d like to start a garden, your seeds are on us!

Rob Greenfield and the Live Like Ally Foundation have partnered to provide the seeds, literally, for an alternative to the industrial, globalized food system, and to encourage people to make a deeper connection with the earth. We’re doing this by launching the Free Seed Project, giving away free garden starter kits to 2,000 people across the United States to grow their own food this spring.

About one and a half years ago, on August 24th, 2016, I took a big step. I cut up my driver’s license, social security card, debit card, and checks. I canceled my bank account, vowed not to take social security, and made the plan of never having a drivers license again. For me, this was a huge step forward. For others, it would be considered a huge step backward. Some people think of me as on a path to ultimate freedom, others think I’m an idiot. I understand both perspectives.

Earlier in 2017, I released a two-minute video of the day I cut up these items. Since then I’ve intended to write a longer explanation of why, but it slipped by on my list of projects, videos, and blogs to write. Today I’m excited to finally share more with you. I am going to share my philosophy to a much deeper extent than a two minute video can do and answer most of the questions that have been posted over the last year on social media.

My partner, Cheryl Davies, and I have just moved to Orlando and we are incredibly excited to get involved with many of the great movements going on here. I am embarking on a project of growing and foraging 100% of my food for a year to help and inspire people to start growing their own food. I will be helping people turn their lawns into gardens, starting a community composting program, planting 100+ fruit trees in the community, and volunteering with local nonprofits.

While here, we are looking to build a tiny house and set it up in someone’s unused space, such as a backyard. Particularly we are looking to live in the Audubon Park area, as there are organizations in that area that I intend to volunteer with a lot.

Many people have asked me why Cheryl and I chose to make our home in Orlando, Florida. I understand this question considering when most people think of Orlando, they think of Disney. Those that know me, know that I’m not into Disney. It also hosts more business conferences than any other city in the USA. Orlando often tops the list of being the most visited city in the nation and not for reasons I’m very involved in. It’s not thought of as the most environmentally progressive city. Nothing like a San Francisco or Seattle. Orlando is a large urban center, not the most nature-centered place.

And then there’s the state of Florida, one state that makes headlines for politicians that I sit on the opposite side of the spectrum to when it comes to my beliefs on humanity, environment, and the Earth as a whole. The state also makes headlines for making it illegal to live off the grid (not always the most accurate stories), toxic blooms of algae from Big Ag, and schools where it’s against the rules to use the phrase “climate change.”

For one year I will grow and forage 100% of my food, while living in the urban city of Orlando, Florida. Every single morsel of food, down to the salt, oils, and herbs will come from the land and I will harvest it myself. I will go an entire year without eating food from grocery stores (including the dumpsters), restaurants, or even taking a nibble of chocolate or a sip of tea at a party.

I-Wood International has developed a super sustainable way of milling lumber that could save up to a third of the trees used for housing. Ideal for shipping as flat-pack tiny home kits anyone can assemble themselves, along the lines of Ikea furniture. A licensing association is being developed for people and organizations around the world to produce these types of kits with small portable or industrial size machines. See details at www.IWoodInternational.com and sign up for their newsletter on the contact page there. If you are interested in bringing these tiny homes to your community contact Chris Scott at [email protected]

This is story of how my bamboo bike got stolen and the wild roller coaster ride I went on to try to get it back. Many of you saw the adventure as it unfolded, but you only saw a fraction of the story. After a year in the making, I’m so excited to finally bring you the full story.
When I decided to search for the bike I had a feeling it was going to be quite the adventure, so I decided to film it, but I never, ever expected it to turn out like this. I truly hope that you’ll take the time to watch this short film. I believe you’ll be very glad you did.

My bamboo bike was stolen last night!Those of you who know me probably know I have just around 100 possessions to my name and this is one of the most important, if not the most important. I don’t have a car and it’s my transportation. I’ve ridden across the United States doing good deeds on this bicycle. Thousands of miles of doing good deeds for others have been done on this bike! And now it’s been stolen in a single bad deed. It’s a little bit soul crushing.

My last Nothing New for a Year blog came out on February 12, 2017 and was the journal of my first month of buying nothing new for an entire year. Here it is September 1st, and 6 months have passed without a new blog. I was planning on doing a monthly blog about this experience, but that completely got away from me. It’s safe to say I have been overly busy for a good portion of this year.
I am going to catch you up to date in a series of two blogs. This one will include February through May, including three weeks in Florida, six weeks in Costa Rica, and a seven-week speaking tour in Europe. The next blog will document my bicycle ride across the United States. A lot happened in both, so I could easily have split this up into more blogs, but I’ll go with that for the sake of finally catching up.